Today the Şişli 2nd Court of First Instance acquitted Sarkis Seropyan, the license holder for the Agos newspaper, an Armenian/Turkish weekly, and Aris Nalcı, the editor of the same newspaper, of the charge of “attempting to influence the judiciary.”

Kemal Aytaç, one of the defense lawyers, told the journalists in front of Şişli Justice Hall that “Actually, there should have not been a case like this. How do we know this? The verdict says so. I hope people will not have to go to the courts because of their ideas and be acquitted. In past people died because of this.”

The lawyers did not go in since they were protesting the court

Only some observers, Haluk Ağabeyoğlu, the human rights and labor activists, among them, and the journalists were present at the final hearing, as the accused journalists did not show up, either. The Human Rights Watch Organization (HRW) representative Emma Sinclair-Webb observed the hearing, too.

The court was in a more relaxed mood, the new prosecutor asked for acquittal

In the verdict hearing, the court was not as tense as it was previously. Prosecutor Mücahit Ercan changed prosecutor İsa Dalgıç’s previous opinion demanding that the accused journalists be sentenced under article 288 of the Penal Code.  

“The article was written for our Armenian citizens”

“They were tried, when the punishment was connected with the “psychology of the people”

They were sued for their article titled “Akıllı Tahta” (The Smart Board), published on the November 9, 2007 issue of Agos, in which they critiqued the decision that was reached regarding Hrant Dink’s Article 301 case.

The indictment had stated that the article itself was not criminal, but it had become criminal because of the psychology of the Turkish people.

The lawyers had claimed that the judges Metin Aydın and Hakkı Yalçınkaya could not be objective and brought a request of recusation against them. (EÖ/EZÖ/TB)